Paul McCartney Tour Rider Bans Backstage Meat and Leather

Paul McCartney has long been one of rock's most outspoken vegetarians, so it should come as no surprise that the former Beatle tries to keep his tours as humane as possible -- and according to a rider obtained by the Smoking Gun, that includes an all-out ban on animal products.

The rider, which was reportedly given to venues during McCartney's 2002 world tour, asks that "no meat, or meat by-products" are "allowed to be served in the dressing rooms, production offices, or areas within the 'backstage area'" -- and further stipulates that he won't travel in limos with leather seats, or settle for any furniture that uses animal skins or prints.

As you might imagine given a star of McCartney's stature, there are several pages of specifications in the document, which details McCartney's love of flowers (as well as a request that the venue use "a reputable florist") as well as his fondness for "plants that are just as full on the bottom as the top such as palm, bamboo, peace lilies, etc." On a more serious note, promoters also need to make time for a pre-show sweep by some bomb-sniffing dogs.

As the Smoking Gun points out, some of the rider's requests don't exactly square with an animal-friendly lifestyle -- such as the part that asks for 24 bars of Ivory soap, which contain animal fats. But on the other hand, it's also a 10-year-old document -- and as one TSG reader hastens to add in the comments, this particular tour was undertaken during McCartney's marriage to Heather Mills, who allegedly "had a lot of demands that are no longer valid," so take the whole thing with a grain of salt. Still, it's pretty interesting stuff, and if you're entertaining dreams of hosting a Paul McCartney concert at some point, it at least lets you know that you might want to start researching local florists.